For those of you who like your bike your way, here you go. For those who follow strict component color matching protocols, yawn at the sight of drab OEM parts, or used to color in the white squares of your checkerboard Vans, this one’s for you. For those of you in search of the next level of bike customization, STIKRD.com has what you need.
STIKRD.com is the brainchild of graphic artist and avid mountain biker, Richard Vye. Richard was never content riding within the confines of manufacturer design, which lead him on a constant search for different ways to trick out his own bikes. As a resident of the Bay Area, Vye had easy access to the MTB industry and even formed relationships with some movers and shakers, including X-Fusion Sales Manager, John Valera, who would later become co-owner of STIKRD. With formal training in fine and graphic art, an inside to the industry, and placement in a region than fosters both a mountain biking and business mindset, STIKRD was perfectly rooted for success.
As its name implies, STIKRD offers stickers, but not just any pre-fab decals you might get factory-direct. Currently, STIKRD prints custom decals from the colors of your choosing for select forks, shocks, wheelsets, cranks, bars, and frames. Below is a brief run-through on how the process works from my own experience using STIKRD.com.
After selecting the bike part you wish to customize (including the year, brand, and model) a colorless template of that part’s factory decal is ready for you to go all Bob Ross. From there, the customization process you take part in is very straightforward, only requiring a few clicks of the mouse. However, given STIKRD’s swatch of no less than 250 colors coupled with multiple options for each decal, you’ll likely spend hours trying to hone your inner Picasso. For demonstration, below is my fabulous rendition of a 2017 Rockshox fork I call, Patriote Brochet.
Once you’ve finalized your masterpiece, you can either save it to your account (requires free registration through STIKRD’s site) which can be accessed later if it needs some tweaking, or drop it in the cart for purchase. As long as you love geeking out on bike bling and enjoy detailing your ride with a personal touch, STIKRD prices seem very reasonable, with the cheapest offering for shock decals starting at $15, all the way up to $75 for a full frame job. The decal can be printed on matte or gloss, high quality 3M Controltac, which has small pin holes allowing any bubbles to dissipate with time. Mine adhered instantly and evenly without issue.
You won’t find every brand of bike part or frame on STIKRD, but that’s only because they’re trying to do the right thing. Instead of similar decal companies who basically steal decal templates for a quick buck, Vye and Valera have approached companies like X-Fusion, SRAM, Ibis, and others for legal access to designs. If they don’t have what you’re looking for, Vye and Valera urge you to contact them for further details.
Make your bike your way and get yourself STIKRD. Check out their website now at STIKRD.com, where customization is the new standard.
